Canadian Forces Station Leitrim

CFS Leitrim, located just south of Ottawa, is Canada's oldest
operating SIGINT station. Established by the RCCS in 1941 as 1
Special Wireless Station and renamed Ottawa Wireless Station in
1949, Leitrim acquired its current name when the SRS was created in
1966.[1]

In 1946, the station's complement was 75 personnel. By 1959, it had grown
to about 200, by 1966, it was about 250, and, by the mid-1970s, it was
approximately 350. The current complement at Leitrim is reported to be
400, of whom probably 250 or more are members of the Communicator
Research trade.[2]

In 1987, the normal rank of Leitrim's commanding officer was
upgraded from Major to Lieutenant Colonel.[3] This upgrade may have
been related to an increase in personnel at the station (possibly
coinciding with the 1986 closure of Inuvik) and/or to an increase
in Leitrim's SIGINT tasks (see below).

Apparently, US Army and Navy SIGINT detachments existed at the
station at one time;[4] there is no evidence, however, that such
detachments are still at the station.

Equipment and capabilities

Several SIGINT tasks are performed at Leitrim. "The Communications
Research projects never cease at Leitrim. The operations area is
manned on a continuous basis so the bulk of the station's personnel
are shift keepers."[5] The primary function of the station during
most of its existence almost certainly has been the interception of
diplomatic radio traffic between Ottawa and foreign capitals.[6]

Leitrim contains a wide variety of antennae, including a Pusher HF-DF
circularly-disposed antenna array (CDAA), three other large circular arrays,
four satellite dishes, and a number of other, small antennae.[7]

Maintenance of the High Arctic Data Communications System (HADCS), the
link between Ottawa and Alert, is conducted out of Leitrim.[8] It is
possible that the station also does some processing of
intercepts received from Alert through the HADCS. The station also
performs signal development (SIG DEV) work[9] and "provides
engineering, technical, and special logistics support to the other
stations of the [Supplementary Radio] system."[10]

Leitrim's most recent and most important mission, however, is the
interception of satellite communications, begun with the
installation of a small satellite dish, probably in 1985. By
November 1986 at the latest, a medium-sized satellite
dish (ca. 10 metres) had been added, and by the end of 1987 two
medium-sized dishes were in service. By July 1990, another
small dish had been added to the station's inventory, for a total
of two medium-sized and two small dishes now in service.[11]

The targets of Leitrim's dishes are probably Mexican and/or
Brazilian communications satellites. Both countries' satellite
constellations were established in 1985, at about the same time as
Leitrim's new dishes started to be installed. A focus on these
satellites would also explain CSE's rumoured increase in Spanish
language activities.[12]

Leitrim is currently undergoing another upgrade. In 1988-89 studies
began on the extension and renovation of the Operations Building at
the station, and, in July 1992, DND announced a $29-million
expansion at the station (including the Operations Building
extension).[13] These developments may be related to the SRS
project, announced in February 1994, to convert Alert, Masset and
770 CRS to remote operations.[14] The fact that contracts
for "pre-definition" studies for the remoting project were being
let as recently as March 1994, however, suggests that the current upgrade is
part of a different project.[15]

Another, more plausible explanation for the current upgrade is that
CSE intends to expand the satellite monitoring operations at the
station. (A possible target would be the new Argentinian satellite
constellation established in April 1993.[16])

It is not certain, however, that future dishes will be constructed at
Leitrim. Although the station remains the logical place for intercept
operators to work, CSE may prefer to operate its intercept dishes at a
more remote (and more private) site and then retransmit the results to the
operators at Leitrim. CSE has already investigated at least one
alternative site for future satellite monitoring operations, the former
National Research Council radio observatory site at Lake Traverse,
in Ontario's Algonquin Park.[17]

Endnotes

[2] History - CFS Leitrim, National Defence, no date,
Canadian Forces Communications and Electronics Museum collection;
Maj R.H. Theakston, "CFS Leitrim," Communications and
Electronics Newsletter, 1975?, p. 19; David Pugliese,
"Military communications centre to get $29-million facelift,"
Ottawa Citizen, 17 July 1992, p. F1. During the period
1975-1978, there were normally 225-232 members of the Communicator
Research trade
at Leitrim, out of a total station complement of about 350 ("Career
Manager's Corner," Capt. D.G. Reed, Communications and
Electronics Newsletter, 1975?, p. 44; "Communicator Research
(291)," Intercom, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April 1978, p.
22); it is likely that additional Communications Researchers
accounted for most of the subsequent increase to 400.

[6] Bob Gilmour, "Our electronic spying hides behind cover
stories," Edmonton Journal, 26 October 1982, p. A2.
Apparently, some embassies, including the former Soviet embassy,
are not allowed to use radio for their out-going traffic, but must
use commercial cable instead (see John Sawatsky, For Services
Rendered, Penguin, 1986, (orig. Doubleday, 1983), p. 276).
Under section 7 of the Official Secrets Act, the government can
require that the cable companies provide copies of this traffic,
thus eliminating any need to intercept it. Even in the case of
these embassies, however, it would still be necessary to intercept
in-coming radio traffic.